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“Of course I’m ready!” she exclaimed, clambering onto the back of the ambulance. Luka grabbed her hand and she looked back, her eyes wild with worry.
“You go with your mom. I’ll talk to the cops and find out what happened. Call me as soon as you get to the hospital,” Luka told her. “I love you, Kira.”
“I love you too. I’m really scared,” she whispered.
He kissed her on the cheek, tasting her tears on his lips. “I won’t rest until everything is okay again,” he growled in her ear. “I promise.”
“We have to move, folks,” the paramedic reminded them.
Kira gave Luka one last deep, meaningful gaze. She nodded, and then she turned and disappeared into the back of the ambulance. They closed it up and away it went, careening down the street in a hail of lights and sirens. Luka watched it round the corner out of sight.
Then he strode straight over to the pair of cops standing with their arms crossed in the front lawn. They were staring down at the soft imprint of a body in the desert gravel. Both officers straightened their posture as Luka approached them.
They already knew who he was.
“Names,” Luka demanded.
“Officer Welch,” said the slighter one.
“Officer Finley,” said the one with the mustache.
“Finley. Welch,” Luka repeated back. “I’ll remember your names, whether the outcome here is good or bad.”
He stared at them without the slightest flinch, holding his gaze long enough that the men started to visibly sweat and shift their weight. But they didn’t look away. Their body language, their sweat, their anxious but eager-to-please expressions—every detail stood out in bold for Luka. They were nervous as hell, but they didn’t have anything to hide. These were rookies who were in on the Sokolov secret.
Lucky for them.
“What do you want to know?” Welch whispered, eyes darting back and forth.
“Everything. Starting with where I can find Mr. Rudavin. Did an ambulance come for him already?” Luka asked.
The officers exchanged nervous looks. “The victim’s husband was not on the premises when we arrived,” said Finley.
“We cleared the house, both floors,” added Welch.
“No assailants either,” added the other. “The house is a wreck, though.”
“What happened to Mrs. Rudavin?” Luka asked.
“The paramedics didn’t give us much information; they had her on the stretcher by the time we pulled up,” said Finley.
“Come on, boys. I need you to be of use to me,” Luka warned.
“Well, we could shut the scene down. Get rid of all these folks gawking around out here,” offered Welch.
“You do that. And when everybody is gone, you stay out here and wait for my guys to show up. Finley, you come with me,” Luka said, carefully stepping around the impression of Mrs. Rudavin in the gravel.
“We’re going back into the house?” Finley asked, rushing to catch up.
“We have to start somewhere if we’re going to find Kira’s father,” Luka growled.
* * *
